U.S. Attorney-General says banks may face criminal cases soon
The U.S. Justice Department is pursuing criminal investigations of financial institutions that could result in action in the coming weeks and months, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a video, adding that no company was too big to jail.
The comments, made in a video posted on the Justice Departments website on Monday, came as federal prosecutors push two banks, BNP Paribas SA
While Holder did not name any banks, he said he is personally monitoring the ongoing investigations into financial institutions and is resolved to seeing them through.
I intend to reaffirm the principle that no individual or entity that does harm to our economy is ever above the law, Holder said in the video. There is no such thing as too big to jail.
French bank BNP Paribas warned last week it faces fines from U.S. authorities in excess of $1.1 billion (652.1 million pounds) over allegations that it violated U.S. sanctions against Iran and other countries.
The Swiss finance minister met Holder on Friday to discuss a U.S. probe into Swiss banks that allegedly helped Americans evade U.S. taxes, which includes Credit Suisse.
While units of financial institutions have agreed to plead guilty to breaking U.S. criminal laws, such agreements have usually involved foreign subsidiaries who have little contact with U.S. regulators.
Japanese units of UBS AG and Royal Bank of Scotland plc, for example, pleaded guilty in the past two years to resolve criminal charges that their traders manipulated the Libor benchmark interest rate.
A criminal conviction of an entity regulated in the United States could lead authorities to potentially revoke a charter or undertake other punitive measures.
In his video, Holder said prosecutors are working closely with regulators to address the issues before taking action.
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U.S. Attorney-General says banks may face criminal cases soon